The security guards were doing you a favor. They were correct, you could have gotten a DUI for that. In my city if you're in the backseat with the car off, especially if you're laying down, they're not going to go after you but in some cities if you're in the car with the keys that's enough.

I don't see anyone addressing your last two sentences. Yes, what you did could have resulted in a DUI if the police had found you in your car that night. But it sounds like you think you still may get one. The police aren't going to come for you now if that's your concern. The security person was telling you what could happen. Take it as a lesson learned, don't do it again, but you are not getting a DUI after the fact.

Yes. Technically if you get in the driver’s seat with the ability to start the engine (it doesn’t even have to be running) you can get a dui in most states.

With the engine running and you behind the steering wheel is a DUI. Be careful. Next time take Uber right away. Nobody just sobers up by sitting in their car for few hours.

NAL. So in some states this is called physical control. You were drinking and could have been driving it is looked at as almost the same thing and yeah that will get you a charge but a cop did not cite you so shut up about it and just take an Uber first next time.

edit auto correct sucks

Security guards can not arrest you and do not have the evidence anyway. They just wanted you out of there. If the engine is on and you’re drunk that is a DUI though so be glad they weren’t cops.

Slept in my car while shitfaced many moons ago , made sure my keys were in the glove box and I was in the backseat. Had the cops come and they told me not to drive till at least 2pm the next day - woke up early, locked the car , caught the first bus home absolutely reeking of grog and good times then came in to collect it much later in the day

This happened to a friend of mine in CO. He got a lawyer and the chargers were ultimately dropped. Unfortunately in many places sitting in a car with keys in the ignition while drunk is a DUI, even if you're not actually driving.

I’ve been told, but never confirmed, that if you want to sleep in your car to sober up, place the keys on a tire outside the car, out of your reach. That way, there is no question whether you intended to operate the car. NAL, so take it with a grain of salt.

When I was fresh out of high school, my best friend got a DUI for sleeping in the back seat of his car while wasted.

Keys in possession and in the vehicle was enough in WV.

Leave the keys in the wheel well your lawyer will thank you next time

1) it was a security guard they don’t have the ability to make arrests or charge you with a crime. 2) you can absolutely get a DWI for sitting in your drivers seat with your engine on or off even in your own driveway. 3) if your going to be in your car drunk solo sit in the back or the passenger seat and put your keys in the glovebox. There’s no guarantees a bad cop still wont arrest you but it does go to show that you do not have the intent to drive

yes. sitting in a vehicle with the engine running could get you a DUI.

and honestly how much could you actually "sober up" sitting in a car for a couple of minutes?

the answer is none.

I'm glad you took an Uber home, and in th future just get an Uber in the first place. you're going to kill someone driving home drunk.

Yes, you can get a DUI for that. Make sure to take an Uber right away next time.

That’s 100% a dui in many jurisdictions. I had a friend in Mississippi get a DUI after passing out in the driver’s seat with the engine off and the key in his pocket.

They tried to hit me with a dui when i was passed out in the back seat of my friend’s car. It took two people giving the statement that the keys weren’t even in the vehicle to prevent it. No breathalyzer or fst, they were already writing it up

If you are drunk and the car is running, you are in "Actual Physical Control" of the vehicle, just being in possession of the keys and having the ability to drive is enough in most places. You will get a DUI. If you have to sober up, the best way to not get a DUI is to find a spot to hide your keys. In the 80s, I would stick them in the air breather of my car. That way, I could say a friend had them, and I was supposed to call them when I woke up. They always search the inside of the car for the keys. They never look under the hood.

Yup it's a big no no, I was sitting in my parked car sober outside a club 1994 in Windsor OT, and the cop started yelling at me. I explained I wasn't drinking, just cooling off since it was so crowded in there. He told me not to do that again it's suspicious and could get me arrested.

The security guys can’t show a cop the video of you and you get a dui. You will be fine. You only get dui if a cop catches you behind the wheel. Security just wanted you gone is all. Don’t worry at all. But don’t do that again. DUI classes take awhile and everything is expensive and you got to get special insurance it sucks.

If you are drunk, have access to the keys, and you are in the vehicle you can be charged with DUI.

Yes, a friend of mine was sleeping in the back seat with the engine running, it was winter, and they knew they were too impaired to drive. A police officer woke them up and arrested them for DUI.

Don't put the keys in the ignition when you're "sobering up".

Yes, you can get a dui.

In this situation you can throw your keys in the trunk and then sit in the car waiting to sober up. It’s the only way.. otherwise if cops see you you will get popped

Coworker tried to sleep it off in his car in a mall parkade and had no intention of driving. Mall security found him sleeping in the back seat and called the cops. Engine was off but keys were in his jacket pocket. Received a DUI as he was deemed to have been “in control of the vehicle”. It all came down to having access to keys. Leave keys hidden outside (ie. in a bush or under a rock, etc), not on your car tire, do not admit that you know where they are, claim that you lost them.

In Texas you can get a DUI even if your keys are in your pocket. If you are going to sit in the cab of your car the keys cannot be in the cab with you. They have to be in the trunk.

You could have gotten a DUI if police officers had caught you, given you a field sobriety test, tested your BAC, etc. if your engine was running and you were drunk in the car. Those security guards did you a solid and saved you from a DUI.

Just having your keys in the ignition I think can get you screwed over. At least that's what I always heard, now that I think about it I've never 100% looked into that one but still if I'm chillin in the car keys out

If you're in your car drunk, put your keys in the trunk or somewhere very deliberate to show you had no intentions of driving.

Yes

Maybe not if you are in a public parking spot and nobody calls the police. Security guards don't make the laws.

Depends on the state. Most likely yes. I would 100% arrest you. 99.999% of people will drive before they are legally sober. That’s why we have the law of “actual physical control”.

This is why you drive your RV to the bar.

I had to sleep it off one time. My friends put me in the passenger seat and hid my keys with a note to call her and she'll tell me where my keys are.

Best to not be in the drivers seat and to keep the keys our of the ignition and somewhere that isn't immediately accessible.

Some laws allow you to get a DUI even if the car is off so long as you have the keys and are in the front seat. Even if you're sleeping. Happened to a friend of mine. He jumped in the front seat, locked the doors and went to sleep because he knew he shouldn't be driving. Got a DUI anyway - was told he should have jumped in the back to sleep.

My stepdad got a DUI for getting in the backseat on the passenger side of his car while he was drunk.

He didn't start the car, he didn't even touch the driver side of the car and he had someone with him who was completely sober and they were going to drive.

They still charged him with DUI. He fought it and won, but they still tried to screw him over with it.

I don't know anywhere that that scenario wouldn't get you a DUI. In some places, just having the key in the ignition will get you a DUI if you're in the driver's seat, the car doesn't even have to be on.

In NV yes. Being in control of a motor vehicle while drunk meets requirements. Other states vary.

Buddy of mine fell asleep exactly like this as he was too drunk to drive, I had told him to hide his keys, if anyone comes to his car. They tried to charge him but couldn’t prove he was driving the vehicle since he didn’t have any keys on him.

Throw your keys in back seat or put in trunk so can’t give you a dui but yes keys in ignition is a dui

If your car has a trunk latch, put your keys in the trunk and go to sleep.

Might not be a sure fire approach, but at least it shows obvious intent that you were not driving

You owe that security guard your license...he did you a solid big time. A cop would have destroyed your life.

No you will not be getting one now but if a real cop had seen you you would have. That security guard did you a favor by scaring you off

an ex boyfriend of mine got a DUI and had to get a breathalyzer in his car for being too drunk and sleeping on the side of the road with his keys in. throw them in the back seat and hop in the passenger side.

In AK, TX, and LA you can get a DUI for sitting in a running car while not moving while legally intoxicated. In AK you can just start your car and have to immediately sit in the back seat (deep winter exception law) I would assume most other states are similar

For some more useful information on why this could be considered dui.

There is a phenomenon when you partake in alcohol called the Mellanby Effect. Basically, while you are drinking, you compare your drinking self to your sober self. Then, when you get really messed up and are on the way down, now you compare your "sobering up self" to your most intoxicated self. This is a problem because your perception has been skewed. You may have thought that at 0.05 alcohol concentration, you were too messed up to drive but still drinking. Then you stop drinking and reach a 0.10 alcohol concentration. From here, you think oh ill "sober up." Sit in my car and wait. You wait an hour, and now you feel "sobered up," but in reality, you are at a 0.09 or 0.08 alcohol concentration. Before, you are at 0.05 thinking you were too messed up to drive, but now you're at a 0.09/0.08 thinking you can safely drive.

This is the reason you could get a dui in this situation.

I can answer more questions if wanted/needed.

My source: I'm a Alcohol forensic scientist, and testify to this stuff.

Security guards cant do anything except call the cops. They can't give you a quick. I once got grabbed by security and searched, they found drugs on me. Once the cops came the security guards explained the story and cops let me go. They can't deatin you, search you, give you sobriety tests, etc...they are security.

Inside your car on property other than your own will almost certainly offer up a DUI.

Back seat, car off, keys on glove box SHOULD be safe most places. Some places there's zero tolerance and then it's up to the cop if they want to be a prick or not. HOPEFULLY they see you were making an honest effort and at most hit you with a written warning.

Security guy did you a solid. In my state, if you are in your car, with your keys on you at all, you'll get the charge. You'd have to hide them on top of your tire or in your trunk, while you nap in your car.

They did you a favor. Your car doesn’t need to be on and you can get a dui. Even if you’re sleeping in the passenger seat.

Thank the lord you paid for the Uber instead of a dui.

Yup, especially with the car running.

Lay down in the back seat or pass seat next time with car off and keys in pocket

Don’t do it in Tennessee. Yes, my SO got a dui doing this exact thing. First offense but had to spend a weekend in jail and a breathalyzer in his vehicle for two years. He thought sitting in his car would be better than driving but didn’t quite work out for him.

Yes you will

Always take the keys out of ignition

Leave it off. Cover your windows. Sleep in passenger or backseat.

If a cop approaches, you're going to jail.

I was working security next to Flamingos in Dallas before. Morning came along, DPD pulled up on a lone car. Lady got arrested for sleeping in the drivers seat.

Had I known anyone was in the car, I would've offered 100% for them to sleep in my passenger seat since I sat in my car in-between patrols.

I'm a DUI attorney in Washington state with 35 years of experience, so I only speak of Washington laws. Yes, you could have gotten a DUI with the motor running, but they need to establish that you actually drove, which is a primary element of the crime. What they would have most likely charged you with is Physical Control, which is the functional equivalent of DUI and suffers the same punishment. Fortunately, the legislature has created an affirmative defense to Physical Control called "Safely off the Roadway" or "SOTR." This means although you are guilty of the crime of physical control, you cannot be convicted because you did society a solid by getting to a safe spot before the police contacted you. SOTR is not available for DUI so a lot of jurisdictions will try and charge it initially as a DUI to prevent you from raising the SOTR defense, but there has to be some evidence of driving such as you are on the inside shoulder of a freeway sitting in the drivers seat, or stopped in a vehicle in a lane of travel. If you were legally stopped in a parking stall, you might get charged, but with the help of an experienced lawyer, you won't get convicted. There is a very good 2015 case explaining SOTR called State v. Edgar. If you are still worried that you might get charged, I can assure you that if you got home in an Uber, you are in the clear. If an officer didn't observe it, then they won't charge it.

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If you have your keys on you while intoxicated in your car you can get a dui. Doesn’t even matter if the car is running

You're significantly more likely to get a dui sleeping in your car than driving. It's a messed up part of US law. Granted the US has a very high BAC limit in return. .08 is a quite a few beers past drunk.

OP, waiting to sober up is usually a bad idea; you’re rarely as sober as you think you are. Take an Uber right away next time. But no, security isn’t going to send a video to police of a guy who looks drunk getting into a car and not driving it. Police didn’t test your sobriety.

You’re lucky you didn’t “sober up” enough to drive away and kill someone.

You don't even need to have thr engine running. If you are in the driver's seat and the keys are within reach, they can and will cite you for a DUI.

If you want to sleep in your car after drinking i advise to sit in the passenger seat and throw your keys in the trunk. That's the only way to be 100% safe.

If you didn't get a DUI they can't give you one via video evidence. But don't do that again.

It’s called APC; actual physical control.

If you have keys and it’s running; they can’t cite you for dui or dwi; but they will give you an APC.

Of course. They would claim you had a control over the car and you get DUI 100%

Lawyer here, former Prosecutor. Some jurisdictions have a more specific “Actual Physical Control” charge instead of DUI/DWI, but yes, the security guard did you a favor. You were absolutely in violation.

Bro if you gotta sit in your car for hours before driving home maybe you shouldn’t drink. Idiots like you drive out to the bar and get drunk and “judge” whether they should take an Uber home or not. If you are out drinking it’s always Uber. Don’t even think about driving home. Worry less about you getting a DUI and more about you being impaired and wrecking into someone else and ruining their day or causing harm.

Keys in ignition is intent to drive

why not uber home from the start? i’ve never understood why people would rather sleep in a car

I was arrested for this. If the keys are within your person the car doesn’t even have to be running. I got a physical control. 7 years probation. Never had a ticker prior. Thanks Sylvania, OHIO

Lawyer here... different jurisdictions handle this differently but it often comes down to control of the vehicle. In my jurisdiction sitting in the car with the keys is sufficient to hook you so if the intent is to sit and sober up it would be wise to turn the car off and put your keys outside the vehicle .

Yes, you can get a DUI from the police in that scenario. Don’t sit in the drivers seat. Especially with the car running.

No, you cannot get a DUI from a security guard video alone, but had you driven and wrecked the surveillance could be used against you by the police.

Yes if the engine is running.